DETAIL of Cuanzhu (San-chiku)

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Acupoint's Category:
Acupoints of the 14 Meridians - The 12 Regular Meridians - The Bladder
Meridian of Foot Taiyang
Chinese Name:
Cuanzhu
Japanese Name:
San-chiku
WHO No:
BL 2
WHO No (Old):
Source:
A-B Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Name Explanation:
Cuan, to assemble; Zhu, bamboo. The point is at the end of the eyebrow, which
appears like a luxuriant bamboo plant.
Classification:
Specific Points:
Location:
On the head, in the depression at the medial end of the eyebrow.
Location (previously defined):
On the face, in the depression of the medial end of the eyebrow, in the
supraorbital notch.
Localization:
Head resting or supine position, locate the point at the medial portion of the
eyebrow, about 0.1 cun lateral to the tip of the eyebrow.
Indications:
1) Diseases of the Head and Sense Organs: Headache, pain in the supra-orbital
bone, facial paralysis, flushed face, swollen cheeks, epistaxis, dizziness,
conjunctivits, blurred vision, conjunctival congestion, epiphora, itching and pain

of the eyes, myopia, night blindness, fickering eyelids. 2) Mental Diseases:

Coma, manic-depressive psychosis, epilepsy, clonic convulsion, infantile
convulsion. 3) Other Diseases: Hemorrhoids, aversion to wind and cold, neck
stiffness, sciatica.
Mechanism of Action:
1) The point is located at the supra-orbital bone of the face, thus, it can be used
to treat diseases of the face and eyes. 2) The Bladder Meridian is connected with
the brain by its collaterals, thus, it is mainly used to treat mental diseases. 3) The
Bladder Meridian circulates in the lower limbs along which line sciatica often
occurs. Puncturing this point may straighten the leg and relieve the pain.
Method:
Puncture subcutaneously 0.3-0.5 cun downwards or against the ophryon.
Acupoint Prescriptions:
1) Facial diseases: Cuanzhu (BL 2), Yinjiao (CV 7), Yuzhen (BL 9) which are
mainly for flushed face, red and swelling cheek. (Thousand Golden Prescriptions
) 2) Coma: Cuanzhu (BL 2), Heliao (LI 19). (Experience on Acupuncture and
Moxibustion Therapy ) 3) Sudden onset of blindness: Cuanzhu (BL 2), Qianding
(GV 21). (Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion ) 4) Manicdepressive psychosis due to the heart causes: Cuanzhu (BL 2), Chize (LU 5),
Jianshi (PC 5), Yangxi (LI 5). (ibid ) 5) Wind-syndrome of head: Cuanzhu (BL
2), Yintang (EX-HN 3), Sanli (ST 36). (ibid ) 6) Electric ophthalmitis: Cuanzhu
(BL 2), Jingming (BL 1), Hegu (LI 4). If the pain becomes unbearable, Yangbai
and Fengchi (GB 20) should be added (The needle is inserted by twisting and
twirling with a medium stimulation and retained for ten minutes). (Abstract of
Clinical Experience on Acupuncture and Moxibustion ) 7) Ophthalmalgia and
headache: Cuanzhu (BL 2), Touwei (ST 8). (Songs of Jade Dragon ) 8) Blurred
vision: Cuanzhu (BL 2), Sanjian (LI 3). (Songs of Hundreds of Symptoms )
Regional Anatomy:
Skin-subcutaneous tissue-orbicular muscle of the eye. In the superficial layer,
there are the supratrochlear nerve of the frontal nerve, and the branches or
tributaries of the superior orbital artery and vein. In the deep layer, there are the
temporal and zygomatic branches of the facial nerve.
Remark:
Puncturing this point can slow down the heart rate. It has a good anaesthetic
effect for operations on the eyes and viscera. For example, when this point is
punctured through to Jingming (BL 1) to give anaethesia to patients operated for
strabismus, the effective rate is 85. 86%. Hemilateral acupuncture is better than
contralateral acupuncture. Painthreshold and two-point discrimination tests
favour the concept that hemilateral effect is superior to the contralateral one. For
partial gastrectomy, puncturing this point deeply to Jingming (BL 1) and
Tinghui (GB 2) has a better anaesthetic effect with a slight visceral pulling
reaction, than points on the abdomen.